Why Working From Home Isn’t As Glamorous As It Seems

In late 2015, I made a drastic career decision to quit a job I loved at an office 10 minutes from my house and a block from the beach to work from home covering sports.

That initial phrase, “I’ll be working from home” seemed to light up the faces of anyone I talked to as I secretly hoped I could tolerate not having the daily social interactions of a typical office.

But after working from home for a few months, I’m now convinced working from home isn’t as glamorous as it sounds.

Here’s my reasoning…

You Don’t Wash Your Hair

When you go to an office for work, you’re accustomed to a daily routine of showering, brushing your teeth, washing your hair, makeup, etc…But when you work from home, hair and makeup is no longer a requirement.

When you don’t have to do your hair/makeup each morning, you can easily get another hour of sleep so I quickly X’ed that off my daily to-do’s with only the UPS man suffering the consequences.

“I promise, I’m pretty.”

You Don’t Shower Daily

When you work from home and wake up in the morning, a thought that frequently came to me was “I need to check my email. I’ll just shower in a bit.”

‘A bit’ turned into hours, that turned into nighttime, that turned into “I’m too tired, I’ll shower in the morning.”

You Get Dolled Up To Leave The House

When you don’t have the daily social interaction with live, breathing human beings, you find yourself doing your hair and makeup for a trip to the grocery store, the gym and any other place where you might be able to make eye contact with a stranger without creeping them the F out.

You Have A Closet Full Of Useless Clothes

All those clothes for work you’ve spent thousands on over the years are now taking up your entire closet as a wardrobe that no longer applies to you.

Instead of shopping for nice clothes, you now have to purchase quite a few more pairs of t-shirts and yoga pants.

Sure, it’s comfy. But as Cowboys’ legend Deion Sanders used to say, “If you look good, you feel good, If you feel good, you play good, If you play good, they pay good.”

Your Utility Bills Are Insane

When I made the switch to cover sports at home, I invested in a new TV to watch the games, an upgraded computer, a better cable package that included all the sports channels and a faster internet speed.

I forgot to factor in the power bill that increased two times over because you need to heat/cool your house to make it comfortable.

All of these added costs just to work from home will have you looking at your utility bills the following month like, “What the hell just happened?”

Working from home may sound like a dream to many and some people may thrive in that environment, but after months of attempting to adapt to the new work culture, I’m convinced it’s not as glamorous as it seems.

Blythe is the founder of Brumleve Brands and has spent the past decade working on a side hustle dream that’s turned into a full time career. When she’s not broadcasting on sports radio or creating YouTube tutorials, she’s leading her team to help their B2B clients with their inbound marketing + web design needs.